The trial for a man accused of killing two people with a machete was scheduled for February 10, 2014.In August, Sebastian County prosecutor sent a letter to the circuit court saying prosecutors will seek the death penalty for Gregory Kinsey."In any murder similar to this, I'm not surprised he's going for the death penalty," Attorney Lynn Lisk said.Lisk teaches at the University of Arkansas in Fort Smith. He said while the death penalty is a serious sentence, the decision comes as no surprise."I don't think I would say it's unusual. You don't see a lot of death penalty cases. But in particularly gruesome cases, that's what the death penalty is designed for," Lisk said. "When you hack some people up with a machete to kill them, based on what I've seen in the news, there was really no cause for him to attack these people with a machete, and he did so."Lisk said in most cases, the prosecutor will not seek the death penalty unless there is strong evidence against the defense."A death penalty case is so difficult to prove that a prosecutor is not going to ask for the death penalty unless he's got a slam-dunk case," Lisk said.Lisk said Kinsey's attorneys will have to figure out their next plan of action."As a defense lawyer in a death penalty case, the first thing you need to do is start looking at what's going to be your strategy to avoid a capital murder conviction," Lisk said.But even if Kinsey is convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death, he may never actually be executed."The people that supply the drugs for lethal injection have refused to supply them. We don't have so many, and it's not real clear even if he's sentenced to death if we have the ability actually to carry out the penalty," Lisk said.Attorney General Dustin McDaniel called the death penalty system completely broken in July."The Arkansas statute says if we no longer have lethal injection, we shall revert to the use of the electric chair, and I don't know how the courts would view execution by firing squad or gas chamber or electric chair, but I have a good guess," McDaniel said.Thirty-seven inmates are on Death Row. Five of them are from the region, and Lisk said not one of them has an execution date set at this time.The last time an inmate was executed by lethal injection in Arkansas was in 2005.14474950

FORT SMITH, Ark. —

The trial for a man accused of killing two people with a machete was scheduled for February 10, 2014.

In August, Sebastian County prosecutor sent a letter to the circuit court saying prosecutors will seek the death penalty for Gregory Kinsey.

Advertisement

"In any murder similar to this, I'm not surprised he's going for the death penalty," Attorney Lynn Lisk said.

Lisk teaches at the University of Arkansas in Fort Smith. He said while the death penalty is a serious sentence, the decision comes as no surprise.

"I don't think I would say it's unusual. You don't see a lot of death penalty cases. But in particularly gruesome cases, that's what the death penalty is designed for," Lisk said. "When you hack some people up with a machete to kill them, based on what I've seen in the news, there was really no cause for him to attack these people with a machete, and he did so."

Lisk said in most cases, the prosecutor will not seek the death penalty unless there is strong evidence against the defense.

"A death penalty case is so difficult to prove that a prosecutor is not going to ask for the death penalty unless he's got a slam-dunk case," Lisk said.

Lisk said Kinsey's attorneys will have to figure out their next plan of action.

"As a defense lawyer in a death penalty case, the first thing you need to do is start looking at what's going to be your strategy to avoid a capital murder conviction," Lisk said.

But even if Kinsey is convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death, he may never actually be executed.

"The people that supply the drugs for lethal injection have refused to supply them. We don't have so many, and it's not real clear even if he's sentenced to death if we have the ability actually to carry out the penalty," Lisk said.

Attorney General Dustin McDaniel called the death penalty system completely broken in July.

"The Arkansas statute says if we no longer have lethal injection, we shall revert to the use of the electric chair, and I don't know how the courts would view execution by firing squad or gas chamber or electric chair, but I have a good guess," McDaniel said.

Thirty-seven inmates are on Death Row. Five of them are from the region, and Lisk said not one of them has an execution date set at this time.

The last time an inmate was executed by lethal injection in Arkansas was in 2005.